Method of reinforcing a reinforced concrete component

ABSTRACT

The present invention relates to a method of producing an individual reinforcement of a future reinforced concrete component.

The invention relates to a method of producing an individualreinforcement of a future reinforced concrete component made ofprefabricated reinforcement elements.

Usually, a structural engineer plans a reinforcement drawing for areinforced concrete component, optimally steel quantity-optimized andproduct-neutral, often already electronically in 3D with the help of around steel module within a CAD program. This reinforcement drawing isused to create the reinforcements of a reinforced concrete component onsite or in the precast factory and then produce the reinforced concretecomponent. Such a reinforcement drawing contains the position and amountof the reinforcing steel bars to be laid in the upper and lower planarbasic reinforcement as well as the further reinforcement elementsarranged in between such as spacers, hooks, bent bars, cages and thelike. Such a reinforcement drawing already available in 3Delectronically is often converted to 2D drawings and used printed onpaper.

The reinforcement drawing is implemented in practice on the sitesubstantially by manually laying the individual cut and bent reinforcingsteel bars, which have to be connected to one another by hand usingbinding wire. This procedure is cumbersome and means considerableworking time is required and is uneconomical and especially prone toerrors, especially with a growing shortage of labor. It should thereforebe sought in principle to use standardized reinforcement elements toimplement the reinforcement drawing, for example in the form of concretereinforcement mats, welded wire meshes, mesh cages, amongst others,which can be prefabricated and stored and thus quickly used on theconstruction site.

The applicant is also familiar with individualized reinforcementelements in the form of uniaxial, roll-out reinforcement steel barmeshes, in which a plurality of parallel reinforcing steel bars areconnected to one another at several points over their length by means ofstatically non-acting straps, and produced, transported and moved intothe resulting component rolled up into a roll, where they just have tobe unrolled.

A disadvantage of this procedure is that individual conditions of theindividual construction site cannot be sufficiently recorded andtherefore manual binding of steel bars is often still necessary.

It is therefore an object of the invention to avoid this disadvantage.

This object is achieved with a method of producing an individualreinforcement of a reinforced concrete component made of predominantlyprefabricated reinforcement elements, which method has at least thefollowing steps:—reading in a first reinforcement drawing of the futurereinforced concrete component based on reinforcing steel bars having aplanar basic reinforcement;—converting the planar basic reinforcementinto a modified basic reinforcement, which has reinforcing steel barsthat are not limited in length in such a way that no overlapping of barsresults within the basic reinforcement;—calculating a plurality ofindividual reinforcement elements from the modified basic reinforcementand the first reinforcement drawing, also by changing the individualreinforcing steel bars in terms of their number, shape, length,diameter, position, steel grade as well as with specification of alaying order for the creation of an individual reinforcement drawing.

The conversion according to the invention is carried out firstly via thestage of a computational determination of a modified basic reinforcementof the component, in which the reinforcing steel bars provided by thedesigner are converted into bars that extend continuously from one sideof the future component to the opposite side. The modified basicreinforcement of the respective reinforcement layers of the futurereinforced concrete component thus has parallel reinforcing steel barsof any length without overlaps. The reinforcing steel bars can thereforealso be selected to be any length according to the invention, regardlessof the actually possibility of obtaining such extremely long bars. Thefurther reinforcement parts of the first reinforcement drawing betweenthe two basic reinforcements are initially not modified in this case. Ina further step, a plurality of individual reinforcement elements arecalculated from this modified basic reinforcement and the furtherreinforcement parts of the first reinforcement drawing. The reinforcingsteel bars intended therefor may also differ according to the inventionin terms of number, shape, length, diameter, position, steel qualityfrom those of the first reinforcement drawing in that a laying order isspecified or additional or other welding points are provided. Likewise,they may include the further reinforcement parts if doing so also makesinstallation easier and quicker.

The method according to the invention increases the ease of installationof the reinforcement with great advantage at the expense of a highermaterial input. This is done in particular by the method determiningstructurally undisturbed areas that are easy to reinforce and providingthese areas with reinforcement elements that can be installed easily,quickly and as straight-forwardly as possibly, which are extended intothe disturbed areas with, if necessary, additional, furtherreinforcement elements, increasing the material input. It is highlyadvantageous that this method can be used in particular with so-calledBIM (building information modelling) components, i.e. with those thatdigitally map a building or its parts. This applies especially when anIFC format is used. In other words, according to the invention, adesign-optimized reinforcement solution is created from aquantity-optimized reinforcement solution with computational effort. Thedesign-optimized reinforcement solution is realized in particular inreinforcement bodies produced individually for the construction site.

The method according to the invention can include the following furthersteps, wherein all steps of the method are preferably carried out withcomputer assistance, where reasonably possible:—minimizing the number ofreinforcement elements of the individual reinforcement drawing;—fixingan individual reinforcement element in terms of type and arrangement ofthe reinforcing steel bars in the individual reinforcementdrawing;—generating a machine data set for producing at least onecalculated individual reinforcement element;—transferring the machinedata set to a production machine and producing at least one individualreinforcement element;—producing the individual reinforcement on-site ona construction site. The last three steps are not an essential part ofthe method. Highly advantageously, individual reinforcing steel bars nolonger have to be laid by hand and connected to each other with bindingwire; rather, according to the invention, prefabricated reinforcementelements can be used predominantly or exclusively, which respectivelyreplace a plurality of the original individual reinforcing steel barsand which are calculated individually for each construction site. Thissignificantly reduces the work time required to produce thereinforcement on site. The likelihood of installation errors is alsohighly advantageously minimized due to the significantly smaller numberof parts to be installed and connected. Due to the minimization providedaccording to the method, the individual reinforcement elements areoptimized in their size and shape such that so few of them as possibleare required. This further minimizes the work time required to connectthe elements.

The method preferably also carries out a collision check of the bars sothat changes in terms of number, shape, length, position and layingorder cannot lead to problems.

The method selects the type of reinforcement elements to be produced orused from the uniaxial reinforcement meshes, in particular the roll-outuniaxial reinforcement steel bar meshes, the biaxial reinforcementmeshes, the edge cages, the connection cages, the welded reinforcingcages and the individual reinforcing steel bars. The use of panelreinforcements is thus also possible. These are static reinforcementsolutions consisting or a plurality of different bars in terms ofdiameter, length, distance combined in a plate-like concrete casing. Inaddition, spacers and other additional reinforcements positioned betweenthe two basic reinforcement layers can be integrated, but this is notcompulsory. In the case of uniaxial reinforcement meshes, each of theupper and lower basic reinforcement has two layers of meshes, which areoriented orthogonally to one another. Biaxial or drawing mats are usedif they can be used advantageously at the respective construction site.Edge and connection cages are used to connect the individualreinforcement elements or to connect panel reinforcements and wallreinforcements, which enable a considerable amount of time to be savedcompared to laying and bending individual connecting steel bars. Thesecages are, however, not standardized according to the invention, butrather calculated and produced individually for each construction site,and optimally meet the local connection and edge conditions. Additionalreinforcements are, according to the invention, in particular spacersbut also non-modifiable, steel-optimized reinforcing steel bars of theoriginal calculation.

The method according to the invention solves the issue of overlappingand impacts as described below in particular through modifications.

These modifications include such with regard to presence, arrangement,length and diameter of at least one reinforcing steel bar, in particularwith the addition of sacrificial or supplementary material. The modifiedbasic reinforcement for producing the individual reinforcement elementsis modified here, according to the invention, in particular by extendingat least one reinforcing steel bar compared to the originalreinforcement drawing with the addition of sacrificial or purelystructural supplementary material. Sacrificial material here relates toa supplementary material not provided in the calculations of theoriginal reinforcement drawing. However, such an addition of sacrificialmaterial, which in principle increases costs and should therefore beavoided, has particular advantages in areas where the load is notpredominantly static, where welding is not permitted and therefore endsof reinforcing steel bars cannot be connected with straps. An extensionof reinforcing steel bars is also provided according to the invention tobe able to connect reinforcement meshes with edge or connection cages orto guide a reinforcing steel bar up to the next assembly belt or to thenext assembly bar in order to enable attachment to at least two mountingelements without additional individual connecting steel bars beingrequired. Such reinforcement elements also have an extension which mustensure sufficient overlap of a reinforcement joint after an obstacle tobe overcome. Alternatively such an extended reinforcement element is onethat is the extension itself, i.e. two individual reinforcement elementssuch as uniaxial roll mats that cannot be unrolled together because theyare separated by an obstacle, to be connected to each other byoverlapping. Although the extension of reinforcement steel barsaccording to the invention beyond the originally calculated amountrequired for the structure is more expensive, the resulting simpler andquicker installation means that a significant amount of time is savedwhen constructing the reinforcement. This is particularly advantageousas staffing costs make up a large proportion of the total costs ofreinforcement construction.

According to the invention, it is envisaged to provide overlaps atadjacent joints of the reinforcement elements with the help of extendedreinforcing steel bars of a reinforcement element. According to theinvention, it is therefore possible to offset the reinforcing steel barsof a reinforcement element relative to those of the two adjacentreinforcement elements and thus deviate the position of these offsetreinforcement elements relative to the calculated modified basicreinforcement. They are offset here in particular by the diameter of areinforcing steel bar, whereby two adjacent meshes (reinforcementelements) can be laid to overlap without the reinforcing steel barscoming to rest on each other. In this connection, it is also inaccordance with the invention when producing reinforcement elements inthe form of uniaxial, rollable reinforcement meshes to move the strip orstrips lying in the subsequent overlap region as mounting elements ofthe bars of a mesh along the longitudinal axis of the reinforcing steelbars such that a height collision is avoided and the level of thereinforcement layer is maintained. The modifications also include anautomatic displacement of reinforcing steel bars due to machinespecifications in the production process, for example a minimum distanceof the reinforcing steel bars due to the production plant.

As well as the modification, there is also the additional calculationand creation of overlapping reinforcement elements, in particular in theform of correspondingly axially short overlapping meshes from parallelreinforcing steel bars, which are designed to be connected to mountingelements and are respectively placed to be overlapping between adjacentabutting reinforcement meshes. Mounting elements are staticallynon-acting straps in the case of uniaxial reinforcement meshes, andstatically acting or non-acting mounting bars in the case of uniaxial orbiaxial meshes.

According to the invention, two or more reinforcement elements can alsobe produced and transported connected to one another by means ofcontinuous mounting elements, which are only separated duringinstallation on site at in particular correspondingly marked areas bycutting through the mounting elements.

In particular in the case of reinforcement elements that form the upperlayer of a basic reinforcement, the method according to the inventionenvisages moving reinforcing steel bars and/or adding additionalreinforcing steel bars, possibly by reduction of the diameters of thereinforcing steel bars in question, if they are otherwise too far apartfor a worker to walk safely, for example when concreting the reinforcedconcrete component. In this embodiment too, the basic principle of theinvention is applied to simplify and accelerate the installation of thereinforcement elements using additional materials by producing aninstallation-optimized design from a quantity-optimized design. Thispreferably occurs electronically.

In one embodiment of the method according to the invention, it isenvisaged that extended reinforcing steel bars in the area of thesacrificial material are connected to a mounting element, which ispossibly also extended, such as a strap or bar. If original ends of theextended reinforcing steel bars are found in areas where welding is notallowed, it is impossible to weld on the connecting mounting straps inthe area concerned. Accordingly, the ends of the reinforcing steel barswould end up disadvantageously unconnected and loose. Extending thereinforcing steel bars by a purely structural and statisticallyinsignificant length enables welding in this area and thus theattachment of mounting elements connecting the reinforcing steel bars toeach other. This results in position stabilization of the reinforcingsteel bars.

In a further development of the method, it is envisaged to produceadditional reinforcing bars for edge regions of the reinforcement steelbar meshes in the reinforcement, in which the reinforcing steel barswere shortened. In other words, when there are recesses in edge regionsof the reinforcement meshes, reinforcing steel bars cut from the recessare reinforced at their ends adjacent to the recess by additionalcalculated reinforcing steel bars. This ensures compressive and tensileforces are transferred between the reinforcing steel bars with a shorterlength and the reinforcing steel bars in the area of the recesseswithout this hindering or preventing the reinforcement mesh from beingsimply unrolled or laid out beyond the recess. This again meanssignificant time savings in construction, which in terms of processoptimization outweighs the fact that additional material is used.

The individual reinforcement elements are also calculated with recessesaccording to the invention, wherein additional individual reinforcingsteel bars are inserted by computer for the ions omitted in the area ofthe recess. These are extended if required in order to be attached totwo mounting elements. Recesses may be necessary because of holes orindentations or wall connections projecting vertically into thereinforcement layer or the like. At these points, only the mountingstraps are rolled out; the additional reinforcing steel bars providedaccording to the invention then ensure that forces are transmittedaround these obstacles. The additional materials required are outweighedin turn by considerable time savings in construction.

The method according to the invention also envisages calculating thelength of the reinforcing steel bars such that reinforcement meshes andedge cages can be connected by reinforcing steel bars of thereinforcement mesh overlapping into the edge cages. In this way,reinforcement meshes and edge cages can be connected to one anotherwithout having to use additional reinforcing steel bars.

When computationally creating the reinforcement elements from the basicreinforcement, individual additional bars are also possible according tothe invention for reinforcement elements and are not or cannot beintegrated therein. In this way, prefabrication of the reinforcementelements can also occur if a reinforcing steel bar cannot be integratedinto a prefabricated reinforcement element for production or technicalreasons associated with reinforcement. The manual addition of thecorresponding reinforcing steel bar still ensures the reinforcementrequired from a structural point of view.

The method according to the invention also envisages that individualreinforcement elements are fixed in type, shape, position or design intheir production from the modified basic reinforcement. The actualconditions on the construction site are sometimes different thanpreviously calculated. The resulting need to modify parts of thereinforcement occurs by renewed production of the reinforcement elementsfrom the modified basic reinforcement and the further reinforcements ofthe first reinforcement drawing, wherein the fixed reinforcementelements can, however, no longer be modified. This highly advantageouslyprevents modifications in a larger quantity of reinforcement elementsdue to a local change only.

One embodiment of the invention is outlined below using several figures,wherein in the figures:

FIG. 1 : shows in detail in three partial figures a), b) and c) aschematic reinforcement drawing before and after application of themethod according to the invention and

FIG. 2 a-d : shows in detail details of redesigned individualreinforcement elements.

FIG. 1 schematically shows in three partial figures a reinforcementdrawing for a component before and after application of the methodaccording to the invention.

Partial figure a) shows the original, preferably quantity-optimized andproduct-neutral reinforcement drawing of an outlined reinforced concretestructure 1 coming from the structural engineer, which reinforcedconcrete structure 1 is based on reinforcing steel bars 3 and has awhole row of overlaps 6. These are arranged arbitrarily as a function ofthe length of the underlying reinforcing steel bars 2 used. Spacers andother parts of the reinforcement lying below or above the drawing planeare not shown. A layer of the planar basic reinforcement alone is shown,which is often modified to a greater extent by the method according tothe invention than the mentioned, non-illustrated parts of thereinforcement.

Partial figure b) represents the modified basic reinforcement producedcomputationally from the original first reinforcement drawing in thefirst step of the method according to the invention, in whichreinforcing steel bars 3 with unlimited lengths are used computationallysuch that a completely overlap-free modified basic reinforcement iscalculated.

Partial figure c) schematically shows a plurality of reinforcementelements calculated individually for each construction site and producedfrom the modified basic reinforcement via the method and according tothe invention, in this case two reinforcement elements 4, 4′. Accordingto the invention, this achieves simpler installation at the cost of agreater amount of material. Of course, considerably more than the twoillustrated reinforcement elements 4, 4′ are actually calculated.

The reinforcement elements 4, 4′ calculated in this way respectivelyhave reinforcing steel bars 3 arranged at certain distances and linkedby mounting elements 5. In order to achieve a sufficient static effectdespite separation, supplementary material 7 in the form of extensionsof the reinforcing steel bars 3 was inserted into end regions of afurther reinforcement element 4′ adjoining the reinforcement element 4,resulting in overlaps 6 of the reinforcing steel bars of the tworeinforcement elements 4, 4′. The mounting straps 5 secure a stabledistance of the reinforcing steel bars 3 of the reinforcement elements4, 4′ and at the same time prevent spread of ends of reinforcing steelbars 3, which would cause undesirable lateral or vertical forces. It canalso be seen that the strap 5′ of the first reinforcement element 4 wasdisplaced away from the end region along the longitudinal axis of thereinforcing steel bars 3 so that there is no vertical stacking of thetwo elements 4, 4′. In the example shown, the laying order is thus alsoset as initially the element 4′ has to be unrolled, followed by element4 in overlapping order. It can also be seen that the reinforcing steelbars 3 of the element 4 in comparison to those of the element 4′ weredisplaced by a bar diameter so that no collision situation arises. Themethod according to the invention automatically carries out such aprocedure. It can also be seen that in addition the reinforcing steelbars 3 of the element 4 were extended to produce an overlap 6. Thisoverlap was not present in the original reinforcing drawing inaccordance with partial figure a); instead of a continuous, orderedjoint, there were a plurality of “wildly” distributed joints.

FIG. 2 shows in detailed FIGS. 2 a ) to 2 d) details of redesignedindividual reinforcement elements. The redesign occurs in particularsuch that undisturbed special areas are identified from the modifiedbasic reinforcement 2 and appropriate reinforcement elements areproduced for these, which can be unrolled or laid without disturbanceand which are supplemented with additionally produced and specially laidreinforcements in the structurally disturbed areas. FIG. 2 aschematically shows an exemplary reinforcement drawing produced with themethod according to the invention for a reinforced concrete component 1.The reinforcement was implemented based on a reinforcement element 4 inthe form of a uniaxial reinforcement mesh, which has reinforcing steelbars 3 spaced apart which are linked to one another by mounting straps5. A disturbance 9 is taken into account such that a strap 5′ wasdisplaced from an original relative position illustrated with dashedlines to the position illustrated with solid lines in order to shortenthe free ends 3′ of the reinforcing steel bars 3 and thus guaranteeinstallation. The top two reinforcing steel bars 3 were also shortenedto leave out an area disturbed by the area 9 and maintain the ability tounroll.

FIG. 2 b schematically shows a further reinforcement element 4 withmounting bars 5 and reinforcing steel bars 3. The otherwise free ends 10of shorter bars 3 are extended by the supplementary material 7 in orderto be attached to the next mounting bar 5 and thus to at least twomounting elements 5. FIG. 2 c shows part of a prefabricated, roll-outreinforcement element 4. The reinforcement element 4 is provided forinstallation in areas in which welding is not allowed due to notexclusively static load, or in which a welded reinforcing steel bar 3can no longer be effectively evaluated from the welding point for thestructure analysis. A weld line 11 intersects the reinforcing steel bars3, which therefore end there according to the modified basicreinforcement. In order to keep these free ends 10 layable, asupplementary material 7 illustrated with dashed lines is added in orderto enable welding to the closest mounting strap 5. This welding is,however, not statically relevant as the statically acting areas,illustrated with solid lines, of the bars 3 are not affected. Themounting element 5 was therefore likewise extended into this area.

FIG. 2 d schematically illustrates a section of a prefabricatedreinforcement element 4, which has a recess 12, for example a ceilinghole, within the surface it spans. In order to be able to lay thereinforcement element 4 over this disturbance, the reinforcing bars 3are shortened in its area. According to the invention, supplementarymaterial 7 in the form of additional reinforcing steel bars 3′ has beenadded to transfer forces in the region of the recess 12 and additionallyextended for attachment to the mounting straps 5. Thus, according to theinvention, a reinforcement based on a prefabricated reinforcementelement 4 is in turn made possible by adding supplementary material 7.

A reinforcement element, in which the diameter of reinforcing steel barswas reduced and its distance decreased is not shown, nor is one, inwhich the diameter of reinforcing steel bars was increased and thedistance of the reinforcing steel bars was increased. Such adjustmentsare also according to the invention, as is an adjustment of the steelquality.

REFERENCE LIST

-   1 reinforced concrete component-   2 modified basic reinforcement-   3 reinforcing steel bar-   3′ additional reinforcing steel bar-   4 reinforcement element-   4′ further reinforcement element-   5 mounting element (mounting strap)-   6 overlap-   7 supplementary material-   8 periphery-   9 recess-   10 free end-   11 weld line-   12 recess

1. A method of producing an individual reinforcement of a reinforcedconcrete component (1) made of predominantly prefabricated reinforcementelements (4) at least having the following steps: reading in a firstreinforcement drawing of the future reinforced concrete component (1)based on reinforcing steel bars (3) having a planar basic reinforcement;converting the planar basic reinforcement into a modified basicreinforcement (2), which has reinforcing steel bars that are not limitedin length in such a way that no overlapping of bars results within thebasic reinforcement; calculating a plurality of individual reinforcementelements (4) from the modified basic reinforcement (2) and the firstreinforcement drawing, also by changing the individual reinforcing steelbars (3) in terms of their number, shape, length, diameter, position,steel grade as well as with specification of a laying order for thecreation of an individual reinforcement drawing.
 2. The method asclaimed in claim 1, further having one or more of the following steps:minimizing the number of reinforcement elements (4) of the individualreinforcement drawing; fixing an individual reinforcement element (4) interms of type and arrangement of the reinforcing steel bars (3) in theindividual reinforcement drawing; generating a machine data set forproducing at least one calculated individual reinforcement element (4);transferring the machine data set to a production machine and producingat least one individual reinforcement element (4); producing theindividual reinforcement on-site on a construction site.
 3. The methodas claimed in claim 1 or 2, in which the individual reinforcementelements (4) are selected from the uniaxial reinforcement meshes, inparticular the roll-out uniaxial reinforcement steel bar meshes, thebiaxial reinforcement meshes, the edge cages, the connection cages, thewelded reinforcing cages and the individual reinforcing steel bars. 4.The method as claimed in claim 1, 2 or 3, in which at least onereinforcement element (4) is modified in comparison with the modifiedbasic reinforcement with regard to presence, arrangement, length anddiameter of at least one reinforcing steel bar (3), in particular withthe addition of sacrificial or supplementary material (7).
 5. The methodas claimed in one of the preceding claims, in which the arrangement of amounting element (5) of the reinforcement element (4) is changed withinthe reinforcement element (4).
 6. The method as claimed in one of thepreceding claims, in which the first reinforcement drawing is read inelectronically, wherein this is in particular a quantity-optimized andproduct-neutral first reinforcement drawing.
 7. The method as claimed inone of the preceding claims, in which recesses (12) are provided withina roll-out reinforcement element, wherein additional reinforcing steelbars (3′) are inserted by computer in edge regions of the reinforcementmeshes bordering the recesses (12).
 8. The method as claimed in one ofthe preceding claims, in which reinforcement meshes and edge cages areconnected during assembly in such a way that reinforcing steel bars (3)of reinforcement meshes overlap into the edge cages.
 9. The method asclaimed in one of the preceding claims, in which mounting elements (5)of the reinforcement meshes are separated during assembly at markedpoints.
 10. The method as claimed in one of the preceding claims, inwhich additional bars are added for bars of the basic reinforcement (2),which cannot be integrated into prefabricated reinforcement elements(4).